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Monday, February 27, 2012

Mondays are generally crummy. This last Monday was especially so. First, I woke up with a migraine, complete with nausea and vomiting. Then a mom threatened to hit my son in the face because he hit her daughter (which was totally not okay for either of them). And to top it all off, we learned that my son's name wasn't drawn in the lottery for attending this school we wanted him to go to so now he's on the waiting list. It was a pretty terrible day all around.

I was definitely in need of some sewing therapy! And that brings me to WIP Wednesday.

On Friday, I put together this quilt top using the Single Girl/Retro flower pillow top I tried out for the Pillow Talk Swap. Everything came from my stash, including the backing! (This cell phone pic is what I posted to Facebook. I'll have better shots once I finish the quilt.)

I finished cutting the fat quarters for my mom's quilt, which will be a variation of my dad's quilt (below). I ordered the solid sashing for her quilt yesterday and hope to get it in the mail later this week. Speaking of fabric purchases, I ordered a motherload of fabric over the last two days without spending a fortune. But more on that later.

New Projects

I just couldn't help myself and started a few new projects this week.

I cut up the fabric for Sukie's bee block. She's having us make carpenter stars based on Cherie's awesome tutorial. This is the one I made for Cherie in January.

I love this block so much that I decided to change course and make my Christmas quilt out of this pattern using my Figgy Pudding stash. I started cutting the blocks for this quilt this past week. That way, whenever I have a spare minute, I can sew a block or two.

I set a goal for myself this year not to start new projects before finishing old ones. I realized though that a lot of the sewing I accomplish during the week all depends on the type of project and time that I have. So, it's not really realistic for me to set that goal. If I have time to cut, then I cut. If I have time to piece a back, then I piece a back. My sewing time during the week isn't always conducive to completing one project start to finish. So maybe my goal should be to try not to start too many new projects before finishing old ones.

Anyway, I started a new project last night...I can't really explain why I'm drawn to the granny squares that have been popping up all over the place lately (check out the Flickr group quilt-along and the block tutorial), but I am. I went through my scraps and pulled out a bunch in every color. I cut up the pinks and purples at around 10 last night. Gotta love all these temptations to distract me from getting other WIPs done.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

I promise this will be the last post I write about round seven of the Pillow Talk Swap (except to show off the pillow I receive, of course). I finished my partner's pillow over the weekend and I am so pleased with how it turned out!

Except for the binding. That just about did me in. I had to rip out a couple sections and redo them.

I changed my fabric choice for the binding as I was getting ready to make it. The multi Pezzy Print wasn't cutting it. I opted for a solid to help balance out all the different patterns.

I straight-line quilted each piece (front and two back flaps). The front and part of the back features parallel straight lines that measure about 1/4 to 3/8 inches apart.

I also quilted zig zags the same distance apart, along with a decorative wavy stitch on the Washi fabric strip on the back.

On one of the back flaps, I quilted wavy lines with my walking foot.

I'm excited to ship this puppy tomorrow and see what my partner thinks when the pillow arrives at its new home!

Pillow StatsSize: ~18.5 inches (fits 20-inch pillow form snuggly)Pattern: Drunkard's path die from Accuquilt Go! BabyDesign: MeQuilting: Straight line by meFabrics: Variety of prints, including Washi, Hometown, Make Life, Metro Living, to name a few

My partner said that she preferred idea #2 (displayed later), but I got a lot of positive feedback for this design and decided to try it out anyway.

I have since put all the pieces together. I'm glad that my partner said she likes idea #2 better though because I wasn't pleased with how the curves came together with the internal retro flower blocks. I am okay with it for myself, but I don't think it's up-to-snuff for sending to someone else.

So, I moved on to idea #2.

I had initially planned on using the text print in the bottom of this stack, but once I pieced the drunkard's path circles, I felt like the text print just gave a muddied look to the overall pillow. So, I used a dark charcoal print from Rashida Coleman-Hale's Washi line that I just happened to have recently purchased.

I really like how it has come together so far (and, thankfully, my partner does too - yay!). Now I just need to quilt it, sew the front and back pieces together, and add the binding. I plan to finish it during my sewing time next week.

I procrastinated a bit and ended up finishing about two hours before our quilt guild meeting last night. This block was a bit of a challenge for me (notice the skiwampus center square). I did a lot of unpicking and re-stitching. Overall, it's a great design and I think Rachel's quilt will be amazing with a bunch of these blocks together.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Thanks to all of you who left comments on my last post. I had hoped to respond to all of you individually, but I had a super busy week this past week and haven't had much time to spend on the computer. Please know that I appreciate all your kind comments, bee block love, and support of my fabric tracking. Now let's get to the good stuff.

The winner of the Swoon pattern is...

Check out her super cute blog, everyone. I'm happy to add another one to my to-read-on-a-regular-basis blogroll.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

I decided to start tracking my fabric this year, so as of December 26 (the start of my fiscal fabric year), I've been keeping a spreadsheet of all the fabric that comes in and out. It's only February 7, and I've already stashed over 17 yards of fabric! I've used 7 yards and will have a lot more once I finish a couple quilt tops that are pretty much done. I just can't believe that my fabric purchases over the last month and a half have added up to 17 yards!

It's been a good exercise for me to start seeing how much fabric I'm buying, the money I'm spending on that fabric as well as on shipping, and seeing how productive I'm being by pushing fabric out. You can tell I'm a dork because I get excited to update my spreadsheet whenever a new package arrives.

Until today, the only thing I've been able to do with fabric for the last week or two has been tracking it with some occasional petting here and there. I started my new work schedule, which allows me to be home by 12:30 three days a week. After a few chores (I gotta earn my play time, right?), I made this block for Emily.

Emily wanted us to make these offset square/rectangle blocks using Joel Dewberry's Heirloom line. She gave us free reign to put anything we want inside the framed rectangle. I opted for rectangular string blocks. I used Kona Sage for the X and border and I really love how this block turned out.

Now for the giveaway. I've changed my plans for my Figgy Pudding Christmas quilt and want to give one of you the Swoon pattern I bought.

If you'd like to win this pattern, simply leave a comment. The giveaway will be open until Saturday afternoon/evening MST, February 11 and then I'll draw the winner. Good luck!

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I've been quilting since 2010 and I've been blessed with a serious fabric obsession. My mom (the constant putterer) taught me to sew when I was ten, but I didn't really get into it until the last couple years. I've really enjoyed all that I'm learning about it. It's amazing to me to see fabric take on its own personality and become something new and unique in a beautiful quilt.

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As I work hard on all this stuff, please don't use any photos or text without permission. If you use information that I've mentioned can be used for personal use, please comply with my request. Feel free to link to my blog or reference my blog when using any tutorials or other related information.